Councilman LaBonge's Weekly Newsletter

[The information below was provided by the Office of Councilman Tom LaBonge.]

Happy Memorial Day

This weekend, we pause to remember the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this great Nation.  Councilman LaBonge likes to mark this holiday by flying American Flags from the historic Hyperion Bridge (above) as a tribute to our Armed Forces.  "Old Glory" will also festoon the bridge on the Fourth of July, Veterans Day and the anniversary of 9-11.  Come by Forest Lawn at 10am on Memorial Day Monday.  Councilman LaBonge will be delivering the keynote address at the ceremony.

MTA Board Approves Westside Subway Extension tunneling under Beverly Hills High School
Los Angeles County transportation officials have okayed a plan to tunnel beneath Beverly Hills High School as part of the Westside Subway Extension.  The approval comes despite vehement objections from the City of Beverly Hills and its school district, and threats to sue the MTA over the proposed route for the Purple Line.  The $5.6-billion dollar project would extend the Purple Line nine miles -- mostly under Wilshire Boulevard -- from the station at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to the VA Hospital near UCLA.  The Beverly Hills Unified High School District has indicated it will file legal challenges in state and federal courts.


City Council votes to "Ban the Bag"
On Wednesday May 23, 2012, the City of Los Angeles became thelargest city in the country to enact a plastic bag ban, following in the footsteps of 47 other municipalities in California. The City Council -- by a vote of 13-1 -- approved the instructions for the City Attorney's office to draft the ordinance.  At the same time, the Bureau of Sanitation will conduct the environmental impact report (EIR).
Before the ban goes into effect, the city will conduct an environmental review and draft the final ordinance.
Larger stores would then have six months to phase out plastic bags and smaller markets a 12-month phase-out period. For paper bags, retailers would be required to charge 10 cents per bag starting one year after the plastic bag is enacted.  Once enacted, large stores will have six months to comply and small ones will have a year.
The Los Angeles plastic bag ban is expected to affect about 7,500 large/small grocery and convenience stores.  Listed below are links the original and the amending motions for the ban on plastic bags in the city of Los Angeles.

Original Motion

Amended Motion

Dedicating Solar LED Lights on the Los Angeles River Bikeway

To celebrate National Public Works Week, Councilman LaBonge highlighted an important project by the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Lighting.  The Bureau installed new Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights on the Los Angeles River Bikeway, many of them solar-powered.  The LED lights use 60% less electricity and the solar-powered fixtures are completely powered by the sun's energy.  The solar panels harvest solar power during the daylight hours and convert it to electricity to power the Bikeway Lights at night.  Besides the energy savings, the obvious benefit is a safer bikeway.

Solar-Powered LED light-standards line the CD4 portion of the Los Angeles River Bikeway, illuminating your ride and saving energy!


Gardner Street and Van Ness Elementary School win "Distinguished School" Honors

Two Council District 4 elementary schools have been honored by the state.  Gardner Street Elementary and Van Ness Elementary have been named California Distinguished Schools this year.  The California Distinguished School Award is the highest honor that the state can bestow upon a California Public School. The 2012 Program directly focused on California’s students and their entitlement to an equitable and rigorous education. The California Distinguished School Award identifies and honors those schools that have demonstrated educational excellence for all students and progress in narrowing the achievement gap. 
In order to have been invited to apply for Distinguished School honors, schools needed to meet a variety of eligibility criteria including designated federal and state accountability measures based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Academic Performance Index (API) requirements. 
The schools were to submit two “Signature Practices” where they demonstrated substantial progress in closing the achievement gap between subgroups of students. Gardner St. School submitted as their signature practices, 1) “Creating Sustainable Learning Communities,” and 2) “Creating and Sustaining an Arts-focused Education.”
Councilman LaBonge is immensely proud of Gardner Street for developing children of great character who are deeply involved in the arts and who have become phenomenal writers through working together in their learning communities. Through this focused work, they have now achieved an API score of 861 and have closed the achievement gap between some of our subgroups by as much as 150 points.
To celebrate their academic achievements and showcase their arts-focused education, we will be holding a CA Distinguished School Flag Raising Ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 14th (Flag Day!) and the “Gardnerville Spring Arts Festival,” beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, June 15th.

A New Train Depot at Griffith Park's Live Steamers

Councilman LaBonge helped dedicate the new Sherwood Centennial Depot at Griffith Park's Live Steamers.  The station is named after the late Sherwood Gordon, who founded Live Steamers, who passed away just a few months ago.  Come out to the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum to enjoy the history of rail-travel and model railroading.

CD4 to compete in the Annual "Hope for Firefighters" Games 

Councilman LaBonge has "mustered" a team from his office to compete in the annual "Hope for Firefighters" Games.  Team LaBonge will compete in a series of firefighter-related events, with the winner taking home the perpetual trophy and bragging rights for another year.  More importantly, the games raise money to benefit the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association's Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firemen's Fund.  It's a fun spectacle that takes place in front of 333 South Hope Street, between 3rd Street and Hope Place.  Live music, food booths, raffle prizes, family fun.  Admission is free.

Click here for more information

LADWP Urges You to Stay Water-Wise this Summer
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) reminds customers that Mandatory Water Conservation remains in effect and urges customers to increase their water conservation efforts where possible.  Overall, water conservation in Los Angeles has been remarkable over the past five years, but recently customer use has been on the rise.
Since 2009, when Mandatory Water Conservation took effect, LADWP water customers have successfully reduced water consumption citywide by nearly 20%. Though overall water use continues to be significantly lower than it has in the past, water use in recent months has risen sharply since January. Year-to-year trends are more modest, but are still cause for concern with overall water use from July 2011 to March 2012, up nearly 3% when compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Single-family residential customers alone have demonstrated an increase in water use of more than 5% for the same period, while multi-family residential customers are up just over 1%.
LADWP urges all customers to keep saving water, and money, by continuing to abide by Mandatory Water Conservation measures put into effect in 2009.  Reducing water use is as simple as checking sprinkler timers, checking indoors for leaky faucets and toilets, and using a hose fitted with a shut-off nozzle when watering landscape or washing your car.
“In 2011, our customers reached a per capita water usage of 123 gallons daily – the lowest in Los Angeles in more than 40 years and the currently the lowest among any U.S. city with a population over one million,” said James McDaniel, Senior Assistant General Manager, LADWP Water System. “Still, even with this remarkable achievement, recently we’ve noticed water use on the rise and with temperatures climbing and summer coming, we’re asking our customers to once again take a look at their water use and see how they can use less.”
The recent uptick in water use this fiscal year is especially concerning following a dry winter and a below-normal snowpack this year. Dry years require increased purchases of expensive imported supplies from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to supplement Los Angeles’ water supply, resulting in higher costs for customers. LADWP customers can curb the impact of the dry winter by increasing water conservation efforts to reduce the city’s overall water demand and thereby reduce the amount of purchased water needed. Since LADWP customers pay only for water used, without any fixed water charges, any additional reduction in water use will result in direct savings on their water bills compared to what they would have paid without conservation.
In June 2009, the City of Los Angeles instituted Mandatory Water Conservation, which restricted outdoor watering and prohibited certain uses of water. The outdoor watering restrictions currently in effect allow customers to use sprinklers three days a week based on their street address. Customers whose address ends with an odd number – 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 – are allowed to use sprinklers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Customers whose addresses end in even numbers - 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 – are allowed to use sprinklers on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Watering with sprinklers is allowed before 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m. only, regardless of the watering day, for a maximum of eight minutes per station.
Mandatory Water Conservation also places restrictions on specific water uses, which also remain in effect. Restrictions include prohibiting customers from hosing down driveways and sidewalks, requiring all leaks to be fixed, and requiring customers to use hoses fitted with shut-off nozzles only, among other measures.

Upcoming Events

Memorial Day at Forest Lawn
Councilman LaBonge will deliver the keynote address at the Forest Lawn Memorial Day Observance Monday, May 28th
10am
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills
Forecourt of the Birth of Liberty
Click here for event agenda

Summer Solstice Hike
Wednesday June 20
6pm -- 830pm
We'll meet at the Charlie Turner Trailhead and hike up to the 1625 foot peak of Mt. Hollywood.
All are welcome.  And arrangements will be made for those who need special transportation.

Autry Farmers Market
every Saturday from 8am to noon in the parking lot at the Autry National Center, across Zoo Drive from the LA Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Grand Opening of LAFD Station 82
The Los Angeles Fire Department will hold a community event to officially open 
Fire Station 82
10am - 2pm
5679 Hollywood Blvd. at Van Ness, Hollywood CA
90028

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